On January 20th, it will mark the 20th year anniversary since I started working in the IT industry. A lot has happened over the course of the last two decades both on a personal and work levels, as you can imagine, and, yet, it feels as if it was just yesterday. That is, probably, why, over the course of the last couple of months, a growing urge to find a new work adventure has taken over yours truly. Till now. That search is now over. 2017 will, definitely, be a year of change and milestones, I’m pretty certain, but it’ll also be a year of excitement, of new dazzling opportunities for learning and growth, of discovering wonderfully inspiring initiatives to experience, experiment with and learn from. In short, it will be a year of new beginnings. And, for yours truly, that time has, finally, come. As of January 16th, I have now joined panagenda. Let the new adventure begin!

Now you know why I haven’t blogged much over the course of the last four weeks. It’s been a bit hectic with the Christmas holidays, the time off with family and friends, the search for a new work adventure, the rather nasty flu I’ve just recovered from, the time to unlearn and relearn while deciding what I wanted to do next pondering whether it was a good time to go back to basics or not, etc. etc. all in all confirming a lot has been going on so far, but when the right opportunity shows up you know you just have to go and grab it, before it vanishes into thin air. And that is exactly what I did! I grabbed it, or, probably, better said, it raptured me big time. It all started with a short conversation in an online collaborative space that is not even widely available to everyone out there just yet. It all begun by tapping into one’s own social networks, where, usually, the magic happens: you know, you get to talk and converse with people who know you rather well (probably even better than you do yourself!) and who are willing to help open up new paths for you, because they feel the timing is just perfect. That’s why I’m pretty excited and rather enthused, beyond words!, about having already started writing a new page in my 20 year long career in the IT industry by joining panagenda this past Monday.

Those of you who are already very familiar with panagenda will know what a real treat, honour, and true privilege it is to say I’m now a panagendean as well. Those of you who may not know much about them and what they do (just yet!) I can tell you they are an amazing team of rather talented, gifted, very helpful and knowledgeable folks doing some pretty mind-blowing things while helping organisations transform the way they work as they join the 21st century. They do walk the talk. Every time. And you will know what I mean very soon.

So, ‘what is panagenda, again?’, you may be wondering, right? Well, they are an international company with offices in Austria (The HQ is in Vienna), Germany, The Netherlands and the United States. They primarily focus on helping organisations understand and make sense of the different IT and Collaboration solutions they may have been using over the course of time in order to help accelerate and improve their various business transformation processes and tooling. Their motto is ‘Make Your Data Work For You’, so they work with a good number of customers helping them understand how to work smarter, not necessarily harder (Which is, as you well know, my favourite mantra) with the data they produce within their own collaboration landscape. They provide a good number of different analytics solutions, extensive expertise (advisory work) and consulting services around both traditional communication and collaboration tools, as well as emergent enterprise social networking software, bridging both worlds rather nicely and intuitively to help address whatever the different business problems customers may face, as well as help them identify new business opportunities.

Don’t worry, over the course of time I plan to put together over here a number of different blog entries explaining more in detail what panagenda has got to offer as well as the kind of work my colleagues and myself do for our clients, which I guess has just triggered an additional thought from all of you out there in terms of what I will be focusing on myself from here onwards, right? As a starting point, I’ll continue to do lots of advisory work and consulting services around Social Business and Digital Transformation, along with a specific focus around Analytics, covering areas such as Corporate Communications, Collaboration, Learning, Knowledge Management, Digital Workplace, Adoption / Adaptation of Emergent Social Technologies and, in general, Business Transformation. My goodness, quite a challenge trying to summarise 20 years of working experience, don’t you think? Phew!

Either way, did I already say how excited and thrilled I am about having such a fantastic opportunity of working together with quite a sensational team of very smart folks always willing to help their customers, business partners and fellow colleagues become better at what they already do? Well, if I didn’t say it before, I will now: I’m beyond words, literally, to have been given such honour of working on this new work adventure I just started a couple of days ago and that it’s beginning to feel like the 20 year long wait doing other things was just totally worth it! Every single minute of it!

Thus with all of that said, it’s now time for me to go back and get on with the overall on boarding process, and in case you are wondering about whether the themes and topics I cover in this blog will substantially change from here onwards, fear not, you are just about to get exposed to some rather thought-provoking write-ups on what purposeful digital transformation programmes are all about.

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26 comments

Congratulations, Luis, on this exciting new adventure. As always, it looks like you are riding the leading edge of the wave of workplace transformation and I’m looking forward to learning more about what you and your fellow panagendaens make happen.

It is also great to hear your story of how the work you do, putting yourself out there and working out loud, is what brought this opportunity your way. A great example for others to follow.

Hi Brett, many thanks for reaching out and for the wonderful feedback! It’s greatly appreciated and I can assure you great and exciting things will be happening really really soon with this new work adventure I begun on Monday. And you are absolutely right in terms of putting oneself out there, working out loud and exploring different opportunities, because that’s where the game is at. Some folks call it facilitated serendipity as well and that’s exactly what happened this time around: being in the right place, with one’s own social networks, conversing about different work related topics and before you realise about it … BOOM! The time for a new work adventure shows up!

I will be writing plenty more about it and the overall process, because I think it’ll be interesting to share across why and how social networks still dominate the business world in terms of helping you be prepared for the unexpected, like in this case 😀👍🏻.

Thanks a lot, Brett, once again, for the lovely feedback and for the kind wishes! Way too cool!

Hi Rob, thanks ever so much, my dear friend, for dropping by and for the kind wishes! Much appreciated 😀🙏🏻. It’s been quite a journey so far, indeed, and having a real blast all along! Feeling rather blessed and very fortunate at the moment with having started the new year in the best possible way and I really look forward to working together with the rest of the panagenda team on some pretty cool and rather exciting projects from here onwards!

Many thanks again for the kind comments! Hope we may get a chance to see each other face to face again some time soon, too! 😀🙌🏻

Hiya, David, thanks much for dropping by and for the wonderful feedback! Glad you had a chance to check out the panagenda Web site hehe Yes, they are a special bunch and I just couldn’t help resist the opportunity to go ahead and join them and so far it’s proving to be one of the best decisions I have ever made in the last few years, which is why I’m thrilled beyond words!

Ohhh, and don’t worry about the email overload, it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t think it will. These folks walk the talk big time in terms of digital transformation being able to bridge both worlds (the old and the new) and the outcome is just brilliant. Another one of the many reasons why I just couldn’t let this opportunity slip away and glad I didn’t!

Hope we get a chance to meet up face to face some time soon and do a proper catch-up. Thanks again for everything, David! I very much appreciate it.

Congratulations on the new role, Luis. I know a number of the folks at panagenda well, and have no doubt they’ll provide you a fantastic platform on which you can do your very best work. I can’t wait to see what this new team accomplishes!

Hi Stu, awww, that’s very kind of you! I am 😊 big time! Thanks ever so much for those wonderful comments and best wishes. Yeah, I know what you mean, I know a few of them as well from over the years and they are a terrific team altogether, so when the opportunity came up late last year I just couldn’t help but grab it (or may be, it grabbed me!) and so far it’s confirming to be a very wise decision, because I’m having a blast and I just can’t wait to help contribute further along into some really cool projects and initiatives coming along! Exciting times, indeed! Looking forward to them very very much!

I’m sure we will have the opportunity to meet up face to face at some point during the year, Stu. It’ll be a very good opportunity for a proper catch-up hehe

Hiya, Sharon! Yay, indeed!! Can I say how exciting and exhilarating the whole last couple of weeks have been altogether?!?! My goodness! I don’t think I have gone through such adrenaline rush in quite a while! It’s like, all of a sudden, grow 20 years younger altogether! Fun times ahead, I am certain! And I, too, look forward to seeing you soon and do a proper catch-up! It’s about time since the last one we had last year! 😀👍🏻

Hi Alan! Many thanks, my friend! I surely plan to enjoy it, and judging from the initial first few days, it’s going to be a blast! Fun times ahead, for sure! Look forward to seeing you face to face, too! 😀

Hey, Sjaak, thanks a bunch for that! LOL Yeah, you know what?, it will give me an opportunity to dust off my German skills as I learned to speak German before I did Dutch (I lived in Germany for a year, before I moved to NL), so it’s all in there, still, somewhere inside my head, ready to be queried and pulled back into action again heh 😀👍🏻

Look forward to seeing you soon face to face as well! And thanks again for the lovely comments!

Hi Marie-Louise, awww, you are very kind! Thanks ever so much for the lovely commentary! I very much appreciate it! I can tell you, judging by the first few days that’s proving to be even so much more than a great new work adventure! Incredibly excited about the opportunity and what it will mean for yours truly from here onwards and what I call the best of starts of a new year than I can remember! And by far! 😀🙌🏻

Hi Simon, ¡¡mil gracias!! Yeah, it’s been quite an adventure already on the first week at work about to be finished and I can assure you it’s been huge fun altogether! I’m having a blast and it’s quite different to everything I have experienced in the last 20 years that I have been in the IT industry. Quite telling on its own! And it’s just getting started!

Hope you are well, my friend, and here’s hoping we can, finally, meet up again face to face some time during the year to do a proper catch-up like the good, long strolls in the Paris evenings. I miss those big time! Ohhh, but since you have mentioned unas sidriñas as well, I think I’d settle down for those, instead! 😀🙌🏻

Thanks a lot, Simon, once again, for dropping by and for the kind wishes! Hope to see you soon!

Ciao Lele, thanks ever so much for the kind words and best wishes! Much appreciated. Yeah, it’s very good news, indeed! I am pretty excited about this new work adventure and after a week on the job already it’s proving to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in the last 2 decades, for sure!

Glad to hear you know some more about panagenda now and what they do … We should catch up at some point in time, once things settle down a bit and get back into the usual swing of things. 😀👍🏻

Thanks again for dropping by, my friend, and look forward to further conversations!

Hiya, Julian, thanks much for dropping by and for the kind, lovely wishes! I very much appreciate it 🙏🏻. Yeah, I know what you mean, but not to worry, I’m currently going through the on boarding process and very soon (in the next couple of days or so), I will be sharing some additional insights about my first month on the job, which will be coming up very soon already! I can’t believe time has flown by this quick already! I suppose a sign of the good old fun I’m having at the moment! hehe

Like I said, hang in there, because very soon I will be blogging some more blog entries about what the experience has been like so far, along with what I’m working on at panagenda, as well as what I’m looking forward to in the next few months! 😁🤘🏻🤘🏻

As always, I continue to learn from you and benefit from your experience and enthusiasm. Our company (I’ve been here for 3 years now) is just embarking on our own social business and I am excited to share your blog with the team and to (hopefully) be (almost) as good a coach for them as you have been for me.

Hiya, Steve, my sincere apologies for the long delay on the response, as I have just returned from a business trip to Utrecht, NL, last week, where connectivity was rather patchy and sketchy and I am only now checking out your comment shared above, while at my home office.

Anyway, thanks ever so much for the wonderful comments and for the kind wishes! I very much appreciate it and thought I would let you know that after a couple of months of hiatus while going through the on boarding process I’m now looking forward to resuming my blogging mojo this week with some additional work / life experiences about this brave new adventure and look forward to further interactions!

I’m really glad some of the blog posts I have shared over here have been rather helpful to you and your team and if there is anything else I could help you folks out please do get in touch! I will be more than happy to help out where I possibly can.

Thanks a lot, once again, for the kind wishes and look forward to further conversations!